All I Truly Believe
by iqisdangerouslylow
Summary: James alive? Sirius alive? A new stranger in town? What the hell going on? Harry finds himself confused and unsure of his path ahead, but will all he truly believe save him in the end...
1. It Can't Be

_**All I Truly Believe **_

_**It can't be**_

(as from book six)

He did not knock upon Dumbledore's door, he hammered; and the calm voice answered 'enter' after Harry had already flung himself into the room.

Fawkes the phoenix looked round, his bright black eyes gleaming with reflected gold from the sunset beyond the window.

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk looking out the window.

"Well, Harry, I want you to meet someone."

For a moment or two, Harry didn't understand; the conversation with Trelawney had driven everything else out of his head and his brain seemed to be moving very slowly.

(my story onward)

"Meet…someone…?"

"Only if you wish to, of course."

"If I…"

Harry couldn't think, why did _he_ need to meet someone wasn't it usually the other way around? Didn't everyone want to meet the so called boy who lived?

"Meet…who…?

"Do you wish to meet them or not?"

Harry noticed Dumbledore didn't answer his question.

"Meet…who…?" he repeated.

"Do you wish to meet someone or not Harry?"

Dumbledore sounded irritated.

"I...guess."

Harry wasn't quite sure why he had agreed, but he hoped it wasn't so sort of trick.

Dumbledore stood up and crossed the room, over to what looked like an old wooden cabinet. The cabinet wasn't much taller than Dumbledore himself and it was neatly carved and polished. He opened the cabinet and the hinges squeaked as it was flung open.

Harry's jaw dropped as he recognized the face of the man that haunted his dreams.

"D-dad?"

Harry stared at the older split image of himself standing, now, next to Dumbledore. He blinked, this couldn't be real.

"Dad?" he repeated.

The man smiled.

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, who nodded.

"But, but, this can't be true." Harry was practically speechless.

"Miss me?" said the man holding out his arms.

Harry stepped back. This did have to be some sort of trick. A sick joke...could it be Voldemort playing around with his mind again?

The man frowned and turned to Dumbledore. "See Dumbledore I knew he would react like this."

"Give it time James," said Dumbledore looking at Harry, Harry was confused.

"How-how could you be alive? Voldemort killed you…" Harry was surprised that James didn't cringe at the sound of Voldemort's name.

"That's a good question Harry," said Dumbledore sitting down in his chair, "I myself would like to know."

Dumbledore motioned to the two chairs in front of him.

James sat down with no fuss, but Harry refused to move. He was back tracking his past few hours, if Voldemort was sending him subliminal messages there would be what Harry described as a jump in his unconscious mind. Since the frequent reoccurrence of these visions Harry had found it hard to tell apart what was real and what only occurred in his head, it was completely by accident that he had found this 'jumping' technique.

"So please," said Dumbledore now ignoring the disordered Harry. "Tell us your story, long story cut short if you don't mind, I'm quite behind on time."


	2. Story Telling

All I Truly Believe

_**All I Truly Believe**_

_**2. Story telling**_

James nodded.

"Well it all started back when Voldemort found us. Without warning he barged into the house, I, trying to save both Lily's and Harry's lives tried to hold him off and yelled at Lily to run and protect Harry."

He took a long deep sigh before he continued.

"Our fight didn't last long, he shot a killing curse at me, which missed me by millimeters. But it did throw me to the ground and knocked me unconscious. After I woke, I went straight to Harry's room to find Harry asleep in his cot and Lily dead on the floor. At that moment, I could hear someone coming. First, I was going to yell out for help, but an idea struck me. I fell to the ground and acted dead. Daring to look, I opened my eyes and saw Hagrid walking away, Harry in his arms. There was also a familiar sound of Sirius's motorbike. Sirius then entered the house took one look at Lily and I and ran for it. After I made sure no one else would enter the house, I carried Lily out of there and ran."

James stopped again when he noticed Dumbledore was eager to ask some questions.

"So that's why your's and Lily's bodies went missing," said Dumbledore nodding lost in thought.

"So what happened then?" asked Harry, he wanted to know the whole story before he could trust James, if it really was him.

"I took Lily's body to the lake," answered James, "Making sure I wasn't seen. I luckily wasn't seen, I was confronted instead."

"Confronted?" Harry asked, "By whom?"

"None other then your godfather, my best mate, Sirius Black."

"Sirius?" cut in Harry, "How come he never told me?"

"He promised me never to tell anyone not even you Harry."

"Ah, I see your plan now," interrupted Dumbledore, "You faked your own death, so if everyone thought you dead so would Voldemort, a wise plan."

"And it worked, everyone already believed me dead. Anyway, Sirius helped me bury Lily and told me the trouble he was facing. So we left together me as a stag, Sirius as a dog. No one knew of us until one day we found Wormtail, in other words Peter Pettigrew. Sirius wanting to take revenge on Peter for Lily's death, tried to kill Peter. He completely destroyed his cover and was arrested. From then on I wondered through many muggle forests only worrying about muggle hunters. It wasn't until last week did I run into someone I'd never expected to see. Dumbledore. He recognized me and now we're here." James leant back on his chair.

Harry still didn't trust this guy, was it really…him.

Harry tried to think of a question only the real James could answer, but he had never known him long enough to think of one.

Even if it was the real James, Harry wasn't happy about seeing him again. In his dreams he had always wanted to have his parents, but knowing his father was alive the whole time sickened him.

Harry shook his head and screwed his face up in disgust.

"Harry what's wrong?" asked James sitting back up.

"You," answered Harry shaking his head, "You that's what's wrong! After all the years I blamed myself for your death, after all the danger I was in you never came to protect me! That's all I wanted! Someone who was always there for me! But that's your problem! You never cared for anyone, but yourself!

Harry stood up and had the urge to punch James. He resisted and stormed out of the office. A tear ran down his cheek as he run up the stairs on the way to the Common Room.

"Boggart," Harry said wearily as he reached the portrait hole. The Fat Lady let him past without a fuss.

"Harry! What did Dumbled-Harry?" said Ron as soon as Harry walked through the portrait hole.

Harry ignored him.

Hermione appeared from behind a book and looked up at Harry as he passed. But Harry didn't stop; he didn't stop until he reached the safety of his dormitory and pulled the hangs around his bed. It wasn't till then did Harry cry freely.

"Harry?" said a sudden voice making Harry look up. Standing right in front of him was Ron and Hermione.

"Harry what is it now mate?" asked Ron.

Harry shook his head and a fresh lot of tears ran down his face.

"Come on Harry you can tell us, we won't tell anyone," said Hermione soothingly.

Harry sniffled before sort of explaining what happened, "He was there the whole time, all the times I needed him he acting a coward somewhere else. He should have died, he deserves to die. He wouldn't even let Sirius tell me he was alive. If I ever see him again, I'll kill him myself, I'll make sure he endures all the pain I went through, and I'll be the one giving it to him. Fifteen long year's worth of pain."

"Harry what are you talking about," asked Hermione.

"He hasn't gone morbid on us, has he?" asked Ron

Harry ignored Ron before looking up at Hermione, "Better not tell you, he doesn't want _anyone _to know, friggen asshole."

Ron suddenly pulled out his wand, "Tell us Harry, or I'll…curse you!"

"Go ahead, like I care," Harry sat there now looking at Ron, not really caring that Ron was going to curse him.

"Great plan egg head," said Hermione hitting Ron over the head, "Harry just tell us when you're ready, Okay?"

Harry snorted, "Fine whatever."

Seamus then entered the room puffing, "Harry," he gasped, "Dumbledore want's to see you right away."

Harry stood up and left the room leaving Ron and Hermione by themselves with Seamus. He walked out into the corridor and made his way over to Dumbledore's office.

He had a gut feeling that someone was following him. As he walked further on he turned around many times, but saw nothing. When he was almost there, he was abruptly thrown to the ground. A person behind him laughed.

Harry snarled, and got up to face the person that had tripped him. He came face to face with a person he could take all his anger out on. Draco Malfoy.

"Sorry Potter," mocked Malfoy.

"Piss off Malfoy," Harry really wasn't in the mood.

"What's wrong Potter? Do you need a tissue, crying for mummy are we?"

Something in Harry clicked and the last thing he could remember was letting go of an unconscious Malfoy. He shook his head he didn't know what had happened, he took another look at the unconscious Malfoy before bolting to Dumbledore's office.

When he got to the gargoyle he shouted at it and ran up the steps three at a time. He didn't even knock on the door, he just smashed it open.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry yelled at the professor sitting in his chair behind his desk.

"Yes Harry?" said Dumbledore calmly.

"I didn't mean to do it, I don't know what happened, I can't remember a thing."

"Harry, you're not making any sense."

"I don't know what I did, he was unconscious that's all I remember," Harry was panicking now.

"Who was unconscious?" asked Dumbledore.

"Malfoy," Harry answered, "I left on the floor in the corridor."

Dumbledore stood up faster then any living human. Harry was surprised he didn't break his back.

"Show me where he is."

Dumbledore followed Harry out into the corridor where he had left the unconscious Malfoy on the floor. But instead of Malfoy there was a small crowd of people.

Dumbledore strode over to the crowd, but Professor McGonagall, who appeared out of no where, got there first.

"Out of the way, let me through." Professor McGonagall gasped as the students moved out of the way so she had a clear view of what was on the floor.

Dumbledore appeared at McGonagall's side then looked up at Harry with fearful eyes.

Harry moved forward and all the students scrambled out of the way as he approached. On the floor he could see a bloody mangled body. Harry nearly fainted at the sight. It was indeed Malfoy.

Dumbledore suddenly spoke, "All students are to go back to their Common Rooms, Professor I would like you to write a letter to the Ministry explaining what you can, and Harry I want you to go straight to my office."

Harry didn't move, a wave of guilt flowing over him, this was his fault.

"Now Harry," said Dumbledore, he sounded angry.

Harry turned around and headed back up to Dumbledore's office. Once there he sat down in a chair in front of the desk and thought about what he had just seen. He could only think of one thing, _this could not be happening._


	3. For Life Or Death

All I Truly Believe

_**All I Truly Believe**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Please R&R**

_**3. For Life Or Death**_

Harry sat in the chair in silence, thinking what had possible happened. _I didn't attack him like that did I? He wasn't all bloody when I left him, maybe someone or thing got to him, but how? Who? Or what?_

Harry's thoughts were interrupted as Dumbledore entered the room, followed by the minister himself Rufus Scrimgeour.

Rufus glared at Harry with fearful eyes, then limped over to the window and looked out it.

Dumbledore completely ignored Rufus, sat down in his chair, and stared at Harry.

Harry tried to hold his gaze, but had to look away in fear of seeing another person scared of him.

"Harry, I want you tell me every detail of what happened," said Dumbledore breaking the silence.

Harry recounted the whole thing, but kept his eyes on Rufus who stayed by the window and looked quickly in a different direction every time their eyes meet.

"I swear sir, I didn't do…that!" Harry said turning to face Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry Dumbledore, the kid confessed and he has no proof to back him up that he didn't kill Lucius Malfoy's kid," stated Rufus suddenly.

Harry nearly choked, "Kill? I didn't kill anyone, I have no reason to kill!"

"That's where you are wrong," said Rufus, "Dumbledore always said you and Draco never got along."

Harry stared at Dumbledore. Dumbledore didn't say a word, he seemed to be in some sort of trance.

"Yeah we might not have ever got along, but that's no reason for me to kill him," said Harry outraged.

"Why did you kill him then?" asked Rufus.

Harry was going to burst, no one was listening to him, and Dumbledore isn't any help, "I told you," he said through gritted teeth, "I didn't kill Malfoy."

"Then who did Harry? If it wasn't you, who was it?" asked Dumbledore which surprised Harry.

"I don't KNOW!" Harry yelled.

"Then I have no choice, don't you agree Dumbledore?" asked Rufus.

Harry nearly fell out of his chair when Dumbledore nodded. "No choice, what do you mean no choice?" asked Harry straightening himself.

"I have no choice but to send you to Azkaban," answered Rufus.

This time Harry really did fall out of his chair, "You can't do that!" said Harry picking himself up from the floor.

"Oh, but I already have, the Dementors should be here by now.' Rufus looked at his watch.

Harry looked over at Dumbledore who just sat there silently, "You can't let them take me professor."

Dumbledore just blankly stared at Harry.

There was a bang on the door and Rufus smiled, "That would be them."

Harry's breath became deep and coarse as the door slowly opened. Harry could already hear their breath as the Dementors entered and the only happiness left in him, were sucked out. He also became drowsy and slowly fell to the floor…

Harry laid there and tried to remember what happened, but all he remembers is the Dementors, which meant… Harry sat up quickly, opened his eyes, and was surprised when he saw himself in the hospital wing and someone called his name.

"Harry are you okay?"

It was Hermione.

"Oww, what happened?" Harry asked rubbing his sore eyes.

"That's what Dumbledore wants to know. Malfoy found you on the floor-"

"Malfoy?" butted in Harry.

"Yes Malfoy, he found you lying on the floor in the corridor, at first we thought you were, dead," explained Hermione.

"Dead?" Harry asked confused, "But what happened to Rufus Scrimgeour and the, the…Dementors?

"Harry," said Hermione just as confused as he was, "what are you talking about? There were no Dementors and Rufus Scrimgeour doesn't even know of this, and Dumbledore will make sure it stays that way."

Harry sighed, "Good, must of only been a dream."

At the sound of Harry's voice, Madam Pomfrey raced out of her room. "How do you feel Potter?" she asked.

Harry shrugged, "Tired, I guess."

"Are you tired or not?" said madam Pomfrey, she sounded annoyed.

"I'm just tired," Harry answered.

"Well lie down and get some rest," then she bustled out of the room.

Harry and Hermione sat in silence for a moment.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked breaking the silence.

"I don't know," she said rather concerned, "but Dumbledore should be here in a minute, I'll go find Ron then."

"No!" said Harry loudly, "I want you to stay here with me."

Suddenly the door opened and Dumbledore walked in followed by a concerned looking James.

Hermione's jaw dropped as she saw James.

"Harry!" James yelled as soon as he had noticed Harry was awake.

Harry sat up and swayed slightly.

James pushed him back on the bed, "Lay down Harry, you need to rest."

"Not yet James, I need to speak to Harry," said Dumbledore moving forward, "Tell me Harry what happened? Mr. Malfoy found you on the floor, and you didn't seem to be alive at first."

"I-"

"Maybe you should question him after he's had some rest?" suggested James.

"Stay out of this James!" Harry growled.

Both James and Dumbledore were surprised at Harry calling his father his name.

"I'll go find Ron," said Hermione quickly.

"That may be a good idea miss Granger," said Dumbledore recovering from the shock.

"I don't know what happened professor, Malfoy said something I can't remember then everything went black and, and," said Harry very quickly.

"Harry, that can't be right. Mr. Malfoy was going to detention with Professor McGonagall when he spotted you."


	4. What's Happening To Me?

_**All I Truly Believe**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Please R&R.**

_**4. What's Happening to Me?**_

"Harry, that can't be right. Mr. Malfoy was going to detention with Professor McGonagall when he spotted you."

Harry thought in silence, his thoughts unsettling him. _But it felt so real. The feelings, the hatred, the loss, the Dementors. Who is it to say this is not the dream? Who is to say James really survived, who is_ _it to say I DID kill Malfoy? Who is to say what's reality and what's a dream? Who is to say I'm not dead?_ Harry shook his head at such thoughts.

"What is it Harry?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes light, unconcerned.

"I…" Harry stared into Dumbledore's eyes for a moment. "This isn't real."

"What do you mean 'it isn't real'?" asked James, ruffling Harry's hair.

Harry cringed at the touch. "This can't be real. James, Dumbledore, Ron, it doesn't fit!"

"Harry," said Dumbledore, in a threatening voice.

Harry jumped quickly out of the bed looking for his wand. "See! This can't be real, Dumbledore never talks to me like that! And my wand! It's always by my side, no matter what! Ron wouldn't even miss a chance to see me while I'm in the hospital wing!"

Dumbledore drew his wand and walked over to Harry. Harry stepped back thinking frantically, he can't die not like this.

"IT'S NOT REAL!" he screamed.

It all seemed to happen at once, everything dissolved around Harry in a blur of colours. James' irritated face was the last thing Harry saw, before it too became a swirl of colours. Slowly the colours turned to black, and then there was nothing. Nothing at all, just total darkness.

"Ah, crap!"

Harry jumped at the loud voice. It was so unexpected, so close, so…familiar?...that it scared him.

"H- hello?" Harry stuttered, groping at the darkness. Nothing. "Hello?" he tried again. Still nothing.

Harry jumped as something hairy rubbed past his arm. Whatever the thing that pasted him, it was big and it…squealed like a girl?

"S-Sirius?"

"Harry?"

Harry stumbled backwards when he heard Sirius' responding voice. He was still in shock from when he heard James was still alive, but this wasn't real, it was a dream, a nightmare.

"Harry?"

Sirius' voice rang in Harry's ears. Over and over the voice called his name, echoing each other like an endless riddle, driving him insane.

"What!?" Harry thundered into the darkness. He no longer could stand the agonizing sound of his Godfather's voice.

Harry jumped when his surroundings turned white. Harry still felt like he was in a dark space, but everything was white instead of black, and he still couldn't figure the ground from the sky, but he could figure the one who stood in front of him.

Harry had to stop himself from laughing, he knew this was a dream, there was no _way_ that Sirius could be standing in front of him, yet there he was. Sirius had his back to Harry, though he wore the clothes Harry last saw him in and his hair was as untidy as ever.

"You have to be joking," Harry chuckled to himself

Sirius turned at the sound of Harry's voice, with his usual wicked smile across his face the way he always smiled when he saw his godson.

Harry couldn't help himself. He laughed. He laughed for a long time. It was the first time he had laughed so hard since Sirius had died, though this was a much more morbid laugh then his usual carefree laugh.

It took what seemed like hours for Harry to calm down.

"So- so, let me get this straight," Harry said to Sirius once he had calmed down to an… almost stop. "You're here to save the day, you will tell me this is all in my head, but you've come with a message to say that you're not dead, if I look hard enough I'll find you alive and well hiding out somewhere in the mountain with the giants."

Sirius stared at harry blankly for a moment, then he said, "…no."

"And then you'll join me and help –" Harry stopped in midsentence, "- wait, did you just say no?"

Sirius hesitated. "I'm not coming back Harry," he said barely above a whisper.

Harry's eyes met Sirius', it was hard to confirm who had more sorrow in there eyes, but Sirius was being sincere, he wasn't coming back, he was gone forever.

"But," said Sirius on a happier note, "this _is_ all in your head."

Harry cocked his head to the side, "Uh-huh. Then why are you here?"

Sirius gave a wary smile, "Let's just say I'm your guardian angel."

"Guardian angel against what?"

"Your mind."

Harry shook his head in confusion. "Which means?"

Sirius took a deep breath before saying. "It's an extremely powerful spell, and it consistently sucks the energy out of the caster. It's a spell that transfers the victims into a spiritual being and sends them into their mind. Anything that happens to your spiritual being will happen to your external body."

"Aha." Harry paused. "This really sounds like a cliché. So your saying, Voldemort has something to do with this and he's hoping my mind is so screwed up that it'll kill me."

Sirius shrugged, "Something like that, but remember he can control your mind too."

Harry had no idea if this was true or not, but he didn't have much of a choice. But _if_ this Sirius was really a guardian angel and he was telling the truth, it meant Harry had a rough time ahead. _If_ Voldemort was controlling his mind, it meant _if_ he survived an obstacle it meant he could create another and Harry knew he couldn't be that lucky. There was a lot of 'if's that raced through his mind, but he had to take the chance. As much as the whole spiritual being thing sounded like a cliché, he didn't have much choice.

"So where to now?" Harry asked.

Sirius grinned another Sirius grin. "That's up to your old pal now, Harry. But in the mean time enjoy yourself." With that he sat down cross-legged and began to hum.

Harry looked around at the empty space. "How can I? There's nothing here."

"It's your mind, use your imagination." Sirius shrugged again, before returning to his humming.

Harry sighed. Use his imagination? To do what? Create a couch to sit on? Harry chuckled at his lame imagination. But to his utter amazement, a red couch like the one he imagined appeared next to Sirius.

Sirius smiled at Harry before sitting himself comfortably on the couch. "All we need now is cable and a couple of beers."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You don't drink."

A beer appeared in Sirius' hand and he took a swig. "I do now."

Harry raised his other eyebrow. "How did you do that?"

"Well, you get a bottle and take a sip…" Sirius took another swig as he said it.

Harry had to control himself from rolling his eyes. "No, how did you create the beer? I didn't imagine it."

Sirius grinned like a little kid that got away with crime. "That is for you to figure out."

At that exact moment colors began to whirl around Harry again, he knew what was coming next could not be good….

**Readers, I am very sorry I haven't updated for what seems like forever. I finally had the time to write some more. It's short, but I'm hoping the next chapter will be longer. Thank u all for the reviews and for encouraging me to write more ******


	5. Into One's Mind

_**All I Truly Believe**_

_**5. Into One's Mind**_

Harry found himself standing in a familiar place. The Weasley's fireplace.

"Here we go again," signed Harry.

"Watch your step, sir," Sirius mocked, inviting Harry to follow him.

Harry followed without complaint, taking in the surrounds as closely as he could. The house looked identical to that he was use to.

He half laughed to himself. Of course it looked identical, he was in the Weasley's house, this whole mind thing this Sirius 'imposter' was telling him was a complete…well, lie.

"Ready for this exercise?" Sirius asked him.

Harry smirked. "Exercise? I thought this was a mind illusion or whatever you called it."

The 'imposter' shrugged. "Did I say that?"

Harry nodded and took his chance. "You're such a bad liar…imposter."

The imposter flinched. How had he gotten caught out so quickly? After years of hiding and fake identities, how can a mere sixteen-year-old boy see right through him? Was he becoming careless? Or maybe, just maybe, this boy was much more advanced than originally thought.

The 'fake' Sirius glanced quickly at Harry. The boy was kicking at the ground watching the dust dancing in the air before it slowly settled back down onto the carpet. He looked neither angry nor scared.

"When did you notice?"

Harry looked up from the ground and shrugged. "From the beginning I guess. Your change in attitude gave it away, maybe next time you should pick a disguise that isn't too closely related to the victim, you may have gotten away with it otherwise. You did your research well though, I must say."

The imposter sighed. Yes, he WAS getting careless. Small mistakes like this is what's going to kill him one day, but that hardly mattered at the moment; his time will come and when it does, he'll know and be ready for it.

Harry cleared his throat, ripping the man from his morbid thoughts. "So who are you really?"

"Burleck Gaus, at your service," the man offered.

Harry scoffed. "Is that German or something?"

"Um…Swedish actually," Burleck said quickly.

Harry raised an eyebrow, than he raised the other. "You don't look Swedish."

Burleck scratched his chin. Maybe he was underestimating the kid, maybe, just maybe there was more to this kid than meets the eye. There he goes again with the maybes, maybe never won anyone a fight, so why does he linger there? Even he couldn't answer that…

"So who are you really?"

"I told you-"

Harry cut him off. "I've already pointed out you're a bad liar, so lets start again. Who. ARE. You?"

Burleck sighed. "Okay, okay, but you're not going to like it."

Harry was confused. He was very confused. Why was this man lying so much? Who could be that bad they have to hide their identity from him? Harry nearly laughed at himself. He had fought one on one with Voldemort, no one could be worse than him. Although…

"Know the name Regulus Black?"

Harry's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't even mentioned Sirius' family since he died. There was never a need to. Why does this man insist on tearing at Harry's heart? There was no need to bring up the topic of Sirius' family tree.

"I know of him," Harry finally answered.

"You're looking at him."

It took a moment to register in Harry's overworked brain. "You- you, can't be Regulus, he was-"

"Missing, so declared dead."

Harry's breathing became heavy. Maybe it was better when he didn't know who he was. He took another large breath and tried to pull himself together. He weighed out his options and found that didn't have too many alternatives. But there was still doubt that the man could be lying, but knowing his luck Harry knew deep down the man standing in front of him was Regulus Black.

"Why are you here?" Harry finally choked out.

Regulus smiled warily and rubbed a hand over his unshaven face. "I'm here to help you fight a battle I realised wasn't mine to win."

Harry considered Regulus' words for a moment. He didn't seem to understand the intention of them. Why was this man suddenly in Harry's life trying to help him win a battle he had no intention of fighting?

"I know that first you're going to want an explanation."

These words carried Harry out of his train of thought and set him on a new track. An explanation was not the only thing he wanted from the man. The way Sirius spoke about Regulus, with such venom in his voice was all Harry could think about. He remembered all the times Sirius told him Regulus was the perfect son. A perfect son to a pureblood Slytherin family.

"How can I trust you?" He asked.

Harry was surprised to receive an honest answer. "You can't."

Regulus didn't know what to do. He knew from the start that it was going to be hard to gain the boys trust. But now he had doubts, there was no way he was going to gain this boy's trust. He would have to earn it.

"But maybe we could discuss this in a more convenient place?" He glanced at the boy hoping he would trust him enough to allow him to do at least _that_.

Harry thought about it. He was already stuck in some sort of illusion and he didn't know a way out of it. He would have to take the chance, but he still doubted the man would try anything too rash at the moment. He did after all tell Harry he can't be trusted.

Regulus held out his hand. Harry hesitated a moment before taking hold of it. With another flash of light and bursting colours, the two of them disappeared from the Weasley's kitchen.

Harry surprising found himself in another familiar place, though not as familiar as the Weasley's kitchen he recognised it straight away.

"Why are we here?"

Regulus was expecting this kind of question, but he still didn't know what to say. "I've stayed here for a while now. This is one of my most recent hideouts."

"Hideout? What do you need a hideout for?" Harry asked without thinking, and instantly regretted his words. The man had been declared dead, those who know he's alive would be the one's who declared him dead, and for all Harry knew, were hunting him down this very moment.

"I'm sure you understand that I dead man can't roam the streets?"

Harry smiled weakly at the man. "Yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't really thinking."

Regulus nodded. "No harm done." And no harm indeed had happened, Regulus knew his position in the world quite well and had happily accepted his fate. No words in the world could harm him. So he hoped.

Harry walked around the cave taking in all the memories of his godfather that he could. This was one of the last places were both pleasant and miserable memories could be found. Anywhere else, there was just misery.

"So where do you want me to start?" Regulus asked Harry.

Harry sighed, taking his favourite spot on the rock by the lip of the cave. "From the start."

It only took moments for Regulus to get into his story. He explained his side of the story quite well, telling Harry what happened right from when he was about Harry age. Harry was surprised to hear some of the words that came out of Regulus mouth. But the thing that surprised Harry the most was Regulus' jealousy.

"You could image how much I looked up to Sirius as my roll model. I was a quite a coward at a young age and my brothers bravery to stand up to our parents surprised me. It was the kind of courage I never had, not once would I ever think of disobeying my mother."

Harry listened in silence as Regulus recounted old memories of past, some happy, some miserable, and some, even in Harry's opinion, kind of cute. Finally, Regulus explained what happened the day he went missing.

"It was the most second most stupidest thing I did in my life, I decided after much hardship to tell my mother I was no longer loyal to Voldemort. Once the damage was done, I knew I can't stay, they would have hunted me down like a rabid dog. But first thing first, I had to tell Sirius the truth. So I set out to the Potter's house. My mother must have warned them that I would go in search of my brother, Death Eaters roamed ever corner of the Potter's house, and there was no choice of getting to Sirius. I had lost all contact with him when I joined Voldemort and knew at that point, that Sirius would never know the truth."

Regulus stopped for a moment to recollect his memories. Harry waited in silence for him to continue.

"After a month of hiding, I caught the rumour of my death. I knew only one person could be behind it. Lucuis Malfoy."

Harry again, waited in silence as Regulus cursed Malfoy under his breath in many different languages.

"I must admit, hiding wasn't easy. I could never stay in one place for too long. I really had no where to go, no money to buy food, and they worst part is, there is no place to hide. A year after I _'died'_ I became sick of myself for trying to hide for so long, and I began to fight back. At first I tried reading every book that a wizard could dream of having and they were no such help at all. It wasn't until I hi out in a muggle village did I find some books worth reading. Using both powerful muggle and wizard defensive and attacking procedures, I found myself using a different kind of magic. A magic I found that, far beyond any other, strips the magic from those that dare to attack me."

**Hey guys, yes I no, I AM LAZY, I get it, but finally! Another chapter, and if I'm still in this writing mood tomorrow maybe another chapter will be up soon :D but we can only hope.**


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